WASHINGTON - Oct. 24, 2020 - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has issued a report claiming "low incidence of inflight COVID-19 transmission" when masks are worn, but the researcher whom they cite - David Freedman, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of Alabama - says that the group is misrepresenting his findings.
Predicting that "a considerable portion of business travel will be lost forever," airlines have been touting this suspect study, and again claiming - incorrectly - that planes' ventilation systems with HEPA filters largely solve the problem, something thoroughly debunked when I helped get smoking on airlines banned, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.
The airlines point to a Harvard study claiming that there's "less than 1% risk of transmitting COVID in an aircraft," but the study was only a theoretical simulation belied by actual instances of mass infection, and is obviously suspect because it was sponsored by the aviation industry which is trying desperately to save itself by convincing people to ignore Dr. Anthony Fauci's clear warning that flying is very dangerous, argues Banzhaf.
187 passengers and 6 crew on a TUI AG flight from Zante to Cardiff were quarantined after at least 16 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed after one August 25th flight.
A CDC study of two Korean flights showed that even asymptomatic passengers could and did spread the coronavirus to other passengers even though each passenger was given an N95 mask, and staff members followed strict infection-control procedures at the airport and in the air overseen by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
An example of just how dangerous flying can be is the experience of a virologist and epidemiologist who, because he was all too well aware of the risks of COVID-19, was very careful to wear a mask and gloves, and to wipe down all the surfaces which he touched, on a single recent flight.
He nevertheless contracted COVID-19 just days after his flight, and believes that - because of the many precautions he was so careful to take - it had to come from airborne virus particles which entered through his eyes during the flight.
So, "don't bet your life on airline HEPA hype," Professor Banzhaf warns.
http://banzhaf.net/ jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com @profbanzhaf
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